Sports Bars and Gels
Ellen Coleman, RD, MA, MPH © 2004

In today's fast-food society, many runners seek convenient high carbohydrate snacks that provide energy quickly and are easily carried. ItÕs not surprising that sports bars and carbohydrate gels are often considered "power foods." Since it's easy to spend a lot of money on these products, it helps to know how sports bars and gels can fit into your training diet compared to conventional high carbohydrate foods. Then, you can decide if these products are worth the cost.

Muscle and liver glycogen depletion are well-recognized limitations to distance-running performance. After a long fast, eating a high-carbohydrate snack an hour before running helps to maintain blood glucose levels. Consuming carbohydrate during runs provides glucose for your muscles to use when they're running low on glycogen. Also, an adequate intake of carbohydrate following a long run helps to replace both muscle and liver glycogen, which is essential for adequate recovery.

Sports bars and gels are handy pre-exercise snacks. Many runners eat irregularly or skip meals due to the time constraints of work, social events, and training. When you forgo meals, however, your blood glucose drops and youÕre more likely to tire sooner and feel lightheaded. Eating a high-carbohydrate snack an hour or so before running will help to maintain your blood glucose levels so that you can perform optimally. Michael Sherman and colleagues at The Ohio State University in Columbus found that performance was improved by 12.5% when carbohydrate was consumed an hour before exercise (1). Try to consume 15 to 75 grams of carbohydrate in the hour before your workout.

The energy boost you get from eating a sports bar or gel before or during exercise isn't due to the minor ingredients such as vitamins, and minerals that some products contain. Instead, the carbohydrate in bars (about 23 to 47 grams) and gels (about 17 grams to 25 grams) elevates your blood glucose to provide energy for the exercising muscles. There's also nothing special about the carbohydrate that sports bars and gels supply. You can get the same results from traditional high carbohydrate snacks such as graham crackers, fig bars, and bananas. Low-fat granola bars or breakfast bars are also good, less expensive alternatives to sports bars. However, there is no food equivalent that substitutes for the "squeeze cuisine" of gels.

Next: "Part 2"